Reasons why the unprofessional conduct occur and what need to be done
A prosecutor is a person who represents a state in criminal cases in courts of law. He or she is responsible for executing a criminal who has broken a law (Miller, Hess & Orthmann, 2013). Ethical behavior refers to expected conducts of behavior a prosecutor is expected to portray during execution of his or her duties. His or her duties are not to ensure that a party has won in a case, but to promote justice and fairness (Miller et al., 2013).
This implies that he is a servant of a law and should abide by it any time he or she is performing his or her task. According to Miller and colleagues (2013), he or she is required by the law to disclose all evidence to court and not to hide any relevant material that would prove a criminal innocent while he or she is guilty. Therefore, it would be expected that a state prosecutor should be of a high moral integrity and should demonstrate good conduct during investigations. Impartiality and failure to disclose evidence to a defendant are good examples of unprofessional behaviors.
There are various reasons why a prosecutor may decide to be impartial and hide evidence from a defendant in a criminal case (Peak, 2011). First, most of the prosecutors are corrupt and would want bribes. After they take a backhander, they side with a party that has offered them incentives. In such incidences, the other party in a case is denied justice (Peak, 2011). Second, there could be conflicting interest with respect to his or her office.
This implies that the state lawyer may choose to be partial in the case to assist a criminal to get a reward, delaying and/or denying a defendant justice. Third, impartiality could arise when a state lawyer is a relative of a wrongdoer. He or she may bribe witnesses to weaken a case. Peak (2011) states that a state lawyer could as well intimidate an attester to decline giving proofs in a court of law. A state lawyer could be influenced by powerful politicians if a case involved them.
He or she could hide some material evidence such as police reports to cover-up a politician. This violates the rights of the other party (Peak, 2011). It is important to note that, a prosecutor may hide evidence from a defendant to weaken a case and make him or her unprepared. Availing relevant evidence to a defender is his or her right. Therefore, hiding attestations imply that there is a probability of overturning a conviction (Peak, 2011). Finally, if a prosecutor is incompetent and lacks the relevant skills, he or she may hide evidence from a defendant.
How misconducts should be handled today
It is important to indicate that governments in various countries should design ways of curbing gross misconducts of prosecutors. Those who engage in such activities should be charged in a court of law. They should be disciplined according to the law. Governments should appoint competent state lawyers so that they can handle cases comprehensively and promote justice (Peak, 2011). In addition, prosecutors should continue with training so that they can become aware of the emerging issues relating to handling of cases and prosecution process as a whole.
Proposal for administrators to adopt and address issues of prosecutors’ misconduct
Summary of the major issue of ethics and misconduct
The major issue is failure to give defendant evidence. This has been cited by many courts as an issue that has been used to overturn court decisions. It has resulted in weakening of cases in judicial systems. Guilty people have been set free due to prosecutor’s misconduct. Allegations against a defendant material attestation are rare because of fear of being accused in a court of law.
Examples of administrative actions that would address unprofessional actions
It is the responsibility of administrator to come up with guidelines on how to deal with legal representative’s an unethical behavior. To manage the rising cases of misconducts, many actions need to be taken (Stojkovic, Kalinich & Klofas, 2011). First, they should be vetted before assuming their offices. This would help to investigate their academic qualifications and experiences they have. Stojkovic and colleagues (2011) argue that there should be competent judges in courts of law who would be capable of handling cases pertaining prosecutors’ misconducts. Second, the education curriculum should be structured to ensure that it produces competent lawyers who would conduct themselves with high moral integrity (Stojkovic et al., 2011).
Third, to reduce cases of corruption in the department of prosecutors, they should be given an adequate remuneration by individual governments. This would cater for their needs and increase their morale in the workplace. Stern actions should be taken against those who take bribes irrespective of their position (Whitehead, Dodson & Edwards, 2012). Actions to be taken include losing of jobs, and disciplinary actions such as interdictions. Fourth, administrators should educate citizens their rights as accused, arrested and detained persons. This would reduce cases of corruption as well as hasten the process of ruling because information would be availed at the right time.
Citizens should be enlightened on the importance of giving correct information and the repercussions of lying to courts (Whitehead et al., 2012). In addition, any influential politician who would be found interfering with court proceedings should be charged in a court of law. This would alert citizens to be responsible as well warn leaders to adhere regulations of leadership and integrity.
References
Miller, L., Hess, K., & Orthmann, C. (2013). Community policing: Partnerships for problem solving. Boston, MA: : Cengage Learning.
Peak K., (2011). Justice administration, police, courts & correctional management. (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Stojkovic, S., Kalinich, D., & Klofas, J. (2011). Criminal justice organizations: Administration and management. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Whitehead, J. T., Dodson, K. D., & Edwards, B. D. (2012). Corrections: Exploring crime, punishment, and justice in America. Amsterdam, Netherland: Elsevier.